Ibis Paveletskaya, Moscow

Moscow is a famously expensive city to visit. Good hotels, of which there are quite a few, can be found in the city centre but only at rates (£500+ per night) that would make even residents of cities like London or Paris, who we might expect to be accustomed to being fleeced by service companies, wince and complain. That doesn't mean that there aren't "cheap" hotels to be found but it does mean that they aren't necessarily very good or, in fact, cheap.

One such hotel is the Ibis Paveletskaya, located about three kilometres south of the centre of Moscow in a pretty average district opposite a strange modern church (probably - it's difficult to discern the precise purpose of some buildings when you can't read the signs on their exterior).

The Ibis is by no means a destination hotel; you would choose to visit only if you had business in its immediate vicinity or if you were financially constrained. That's not to say that there is anything particularly wrong with the hotel, it just doesn't have the facilities that you might want if you were expecting to spend time in the hotel itself. If you simply want to use the hotel as a base of operation then the beds are warm and comfortable, the showers are clean and the price (about £180 a night) isn't too bad (although in any other city you would probably feel a little put out if asked to pay more than £60).

The good points are the price (very low compared to other hotels in Moscow), the availability of wifi (fast and free throughout the hotel, as it should be everywhere) and the comfort of the rooms (warm, if basic and unpleasantly decorated).

To deliver the low price, however, they have cut a few corners. The restaurant, while serving reasonable (if basic and very dull) food is a soulless, poorly decorated room that wouldn't look out of place in a British holiday camp from the early 1980s; in other words, it's grim. There are no exercise facilities, gym or swimming pool; a jog around the hotel's locale, especially in February, holds absolutely no appeal whatsoever. The business facilities are pretty much non-existent; if you can do all you need with a wifi connection then you should be fine but if not the hotel won't be able to help.

Finally, you won't be bringing guests back to the hotel bar to impress them. Located in the foyer, the bar is very basic and although it's perfectly serviceable in terms of supplying coffee or alcohol it isn't going to feature in a "Top 10 Hotel Bars" compilation.

Would I return? I would hope not to but, given the average price of hotels in Moscow, I think it is entirely possible that I would end up at the Ibis again if I ever returned to the city. My preference would be to stay elsewhere but the Ibis is at least safe, clean and bathed in free wifi.